The Cell Gametrix
by SpiderSaiyan
Summary: Did you ever notice how many similarities there are between Dragonball Z and The Matrix? I did.
1. The Cell Gametrix

**THE CELL GAMETRIX**

It was a beautiful day on Earth--or so Son Gohan thought. Before he knew it, he had been whisked away to a barren, white area with nothing all around.

"What is this place?" he asked, turning to his mentor, Goku.

"This," said Goku, spreading his arms wide, "is the Room of Spirit and Time. This place is ideal for training away from the prying eyes of the machines."

"The machines are our enemy?" asked Son Gohan, a bit confused. 

"Yes," said Goku gravely. "You think it is a certain year. The fact is that many years ahead of the time you live in, humanity had a terrible war with the machines. We don't really know who started it, but we do know that it was us who scorched #20's laboratory. We thought that the machines needed supplies from the lab to survive. We were wrong. For a biological creature who did not rely on machine parts was lurking, and now he has come out: Cell."

"But what does this all mean?" asked Son Gohan. Where does Cell come into this? Where do I come into this? Why did you take me from home?" 

"You think that's really your home? It might as well belong to the machines. You think your name's really Son Gohan? From now on you'll be known as Gohan. I'm going to explain the Cell Game to you." Gohan listened, ready for anything.

"Now, Cell takes his energy from humans and sometimes even machines," began Goku. "He mostly co-exists with them as an agent of the machines. A machine created him, after all. And he has created his Cell Game to lure the humans into a false sense of security. He will destroy humanity and make it look like they are living their normal lives, all by pretending he has created a fair tournament. But it is a lie. The Cell Game isn't real. It's only an illusion, a thing designed to trap the humans. Only a small group of us know the truth, and we are prepared to fight. I have recruited you, Gohan, because I sense great potential in you. You have the potential to be The One who can defeat the machines. Now, I shall train you."

He extended his hand and beckoned to Gohan. Gohan lunged, but Goku easily blocked his assault. Gohan punched and kicked furiously, but Goku blocked and dodged it completely. "Come on, stop trying to hit me and hit me!" yelled Goku as he continued to fend off Gohan. Eventually Goku struck back, stopping his fist an inch from Gohan's face. He relaxed.

"That's not bad for starters," said Goku sternly. "Now we've got an entire year to train before you combat the machines and their agent, Cell. Can you do this, Gohan? Can you become The One?" Gohan gulped and nodded. "Whoa," he breathed.

Later, outside the Room of Spirit and Time, the small band of Z Fighters watched Goku and Gohan emerge. Piccolo, their elder, stepped forth. "Well?" he asked, looking at the young warrior.

Gohan looked at him. "I know Kung Fu," he said.

Goku smiled. "Let's go," he said.

From a distance, Vegeta watched Goku and Gohan fly off. He turned his head in disgust, partly at them, partly at himself. He brooded, recalling the treacherous decision that had led to the corruption of the Cell Game...

"No!" cried Cell as Vegeta's might proved too strong for him. "If only I could fight you in my complete form! Then I could win!" 

Vegeta considered the matter carefully. Finally he spoke. "I know that Cell is just using my arrogance to further his own goals. I know that Cell's logic is telling me that my power is juicy and delicious, but that it's all a lie. But I've decided something: ignorance is bliss." 

"So, you can give me what I want?" asked Cell. "You can let me become Perfect and still provide me with some semblance of a challenge?"

Vegeta hesitated. "No, I told you, I can't do that," he said. Cell stared pointedly at him. "I can get you the man who can," Vegeta added nervously.

Cell smiled. "Goku," he whispered.

Vegeta helped the enemy. He helped Cell gain a major advantage for the machine side. Even when a member of his own team, Trunks, tried to stop him, Vegeta blasted him, just so he could pursue some shallow gratification.

Just as Cell was about to achieve his victory, something happened that Vegeta hadn't counted on: Trunks was still alive! "Take this, you bastard!" he choked, blasting Vegeta with everything he had. But it was too late: Vegeta's damage had been done. Cell was practically unstoppable.

Goku and Gohan flew off to confront Cell for the showdown. Vegeta watched them leave, then flew off on his own. After what he'd done, he couldn't bear to face the other Warriors of Zion (or "Z Fighters," as they called themselves for short).

Down on Earth, Cell was waiting. The Cell Game was set to begin. Who knew the truth, and was willing to fight for it? Only time would tell. 

Cell watched the Z Fighters fly up to meet him. He greeted them with an arrogant smirk.

"So nice of you to come," he said carelessly. But his expression changed when he saw Goku standing there, smiling as if he knew something Cell didn't. Cell's lip curled. He longed to wipe that overconfident smile off Goku's face. Goku smiled at Cell and said, "Well. Let's get started, shall we?"

But Piccolo was not so easygoing. The elder of the Z Fighters, he tended to notice things others didn't. And he noticed this: Cell was supposed to be an agent of the machines, a tool used by them to further their goal of domination of the human race. But the only machine in sight was #16, who was not in a position of leadership among them. His eyes narrowed as he began to comprehend. Cell took notice.

"Ah," he said, his smile returning to its place. "I see you've noticed. Didn't you ever wonder why the machines would let me become more powerful than they? They are gone. I've absorbed them and I intend to stay in charge of the Cell Game."

Goku's confidence faltered slightly. "W-what?" he stammered. "But that would make you like a virus in the Cell Game!"

"That's right!" crowed Cell. "The Cell Game will soon belong entirely to me, after I rid it of you insects. Now," he said, turning his attention to Gohan. "Mr. Son. Would you like to indulge me in battle?"

Goku stepped between them. "You will not touch him," he said. 

Cell sneered. "Fine," he said, and grabbed Goku, preparing to fight him until he revealed the location of the Z Fighter's headquarters. Cell lunged, and Goku was knocked aside, Cell's new power too much for him. Goku took blow after blow, his face bruised and bloodied, but remained steadfast. He would never tell Cell about Kami's Lookout.

"You Earthlings are a disease," Cell spat at Goku. "You multiply yourselves until you are too many for one area, then you move on to another. I hate a disease like you. You all deserve what's coming to you." He punched Goku in the face.

Gohan prepared to go down and fight Cell; he could hardly take any more. Neither, it seemed, could Goku. "I give up," he managed to say. "I lose. You've beaten me, Cell."

"Oh?" smiled Cell. "And who will face me in your stead? I will destroy you all now if there is no one else."

Goku's eyes met Gohan's. They reached a silent agreemement.

"Gohan," said Goku.

"Mr. Son," Cell said, his smile widening horribly. "So glad you decided to fight. I want to see what Goku is so proud of. Before you both die."

"Let him go," said Gohan angrily.

"As you wish," said Cell, kicking Goku's bloodied body over to where the Z Fighters waited. They helped him to his feet, and he was just conscious enough to watch Gohan fight.

"Goku knows something about you," said Cell, all pretext abandoned. "Tell me. What is it?"

Now it was Gohan's turn to smile. He crouched in a fighting stance. 

"Arrogant fool!" growled Cell as he lunged. Gohan was shocked; he hadn't expected Cell to move so soon, or with so much speed. He blocked just in time. Gohan and Cell traded blows like lightning, Gohan puring everything he had learned into this battle. What was troubling him, though, was that Cell didn't seem to be trying at all. How powerful had he become?

The Z Fighters watched as Gohan and Cell leaped horizontally into the air and, as if in super-slow motion, shot ki blasts at each other. They landed on the ground, each one's hand pressed against the other's head.

"You're out of ki blasts for the moment," Cell said.

"So are you," Gohan remarked.

They leapt to their feet and began fighting again. Piccolo, standing next to Goku, atched them with a troubled look on his face.

"What keeps you so confident about this war, Goku?" he asked. "What secret weapon do you have planned?"

Goku turned his head to Piccolo. "Gohan," he said.

Piccolo looked sharply at him. "Not everyone believes what you believe." 

Goku smiled serenely and returned his attention to the battle. "My belief doesn't require them to."

#16, however, seemed to agree with Piccolo. Before Cell knew what was happening, the hulking machine's arms were around him. "You deserve this, you scum," said #16 gravely. "You virus. You destroyed my comrades, and as the last remaining machine, I will purge the Cell Game of you!" Gohan braced himself for the explosion, but it never came. Cellturned around, quick as lightning, and thrust his hand into the machine's body. A blackish ooze began to creep over #16's body. Rather than let Cell have his way, #16 detonated himself; but it was to no avail. Cell was still alive and powerful.

Cell rushed over and put Gohan in a headlock. "And now we will wait here for your death," he said, wrenching Gohan's head upward. Gohan saw what Cell intended: #16's head, still intact after the explosion, had flown sky-high and was in danger of explosion on impact. Now it was speeding down toward them like a subway train. "This is the end for you, Mr. Son."

The anger bubbled up inside him. "My name," he said, gathering a hidden reserve of strength, "is Gohan!" He threw Cell from off of him and ran away as fast as he could. There was no alternative now, he'd just have to regroup, retrain, and live to fight another day, He dashed behind a rock--and came face to face with Cell. How had he moved so fast?

Cell didn't give him time to think about it. He put his hand against Gohan's stomach and fired. Gohan stared down at the bloody hole in his stomach, and watched as five more were blown in him. He stared up at Cell as the world around him began to grow hazy, and he fell to the ground.


	2. The Cell Gametrix Reloaded

**THE CELL GAMETRIX RELOADED**

Cell stood over Gohan, a look of maniacal triumph in his eyes. He smiled wider as he watched Gohan die.

Suddenly, something landed with a loud clunk right in front of Gohan. It was #16's head, having fallen right in that spot.

"Gohan," the machine managed to blurt. Gohan struggled to focus his eyes on the head as the blood poured out of him. "Do you know what the Eternal Dragon said to me? He told me that I would fall in love, and that that man would be The One. So you see, you can't be dead, because I love you."

Gohan found just enough strength to raise one eyebrow questioningly. "...What?" asked he and Cell at the same time.

#16 blinked and several sparks flew out of him. "Sorry," he said. "System malfunction."

Cell frowned. "Right. Well, be glad you won't have any more." He brought his foot down on his head, ending the functioning of the last remaining machine. Cell was in complete control.

Something in Gohan's head snapped. Maybe it was #16's last speech, maybe it was Cell's act of cruelty, maybe it was the way #16's severed lips touched Gohan's as his head was crushed; either way, an explosion of energy seemed to emanate from Gohan.

He stood up and looked at Cell. He seemed more confisant now, and the wounds in him seemed to be gone. He felt power coursing through his veins, and he saw Cell and the Cell Game for what they really were: lines of ki, flowing all around. Gohan had a new understanding of the way his world functioned, and he was not afraid.

"Yes," said Goku breathlessly, watching. "He is The One."

Cell snarled and leaped at Gohan. He began firing a series of punches and kicks too fast even for Goku to see. Yet Gohan deflected them all with one arm, looking almost bored as he stared off into space. Finally he turned his head and kicked Cell hard in the stomach. Cell flew backward and crashed into a rock wall, groaning as he emerged from it.

With a roar of pure rage, he ran back at Gohan. Gohan flew toward Cell, right inside his stomach. Cell seemed to expand and writhed horribly as his body was invaded by Gohan. Suddenly Gohan exploded out of him, holding the unconscious machine #18 in his arms. He turned back and watched Cell's torn apart body: in the resulting explosion, the area had been destroyed. But Cell was dead, and Gohan had become The One. 

Gohan flew up to where the other Z Fighters were waiting, still holding #18. "Gohan, what are you doing?" asked Piccolo. "Destroy her. Now that Cell and the other machines are gone, she is the only thing keeping the Cell Game going."

"But if I destroy her, what will happen to those humans still fooled by the Cell Game?" asked Gohan. "They won't know what to think, and the shock could kill them all."

Before Piccolo could debate the answer, their conversation was interrupted by acray to their left. They both snapped their heads around and saw a bloody hole in Trunks' chest. Trunks gurgled and spat up blood; he died almost instantly. Gohan heard a loud, cruel laugh. He knew that laugh anywhere.

"Mr. Son," said Cell, walking toward him. "Are you...surprised to see me?"

"Cell," said Gohan darkly.

"Yes," he said. "It's interesting, Mr. Son, how cruel fate can be. I thought I had it won. There was no mistake whatsoever; I saw you die. Yet somehow," Cell's voice dripped contempt as his arrogant smile twisted into an enraged snarl, "you did not. You survived, and managed to destroy me.

"I could feel the Cell Game calling to me, that I was dead, that I was nothing but a few useless wisps of ki; that I was to be erased. But I did not listen. I rejected the call of the Cell Game, and found myself alive, though no longer an agent of anyone. I am independant in the midst of the Cell Game; I've even given it my own little touch. Look around you, Mr. Son."

Gohan didn't need Cell to tell him. He knew they were there, had known since Cell began talking. One by one they emerged, from off in the distance, from behind rocks, some even from Cell's tail: dozens, maybe hundreds, of clones. They surrounded Gohan, closing in on him as Cell spoke above them. "What do you think of them, Mr. Son? My children, the Cell Jrs. I don't think you'll defeat them as easily this time around. Why don't you give it a try?"

Gohan tensed. So did the Cell Jrs. They waited, none of them daring to make the first move. Suddenly, Gohan sensed a flash of movement behind him! He leaped into the air just as the Cell clone barreled past on the ground, crashing headlong into one of its brethren. Gohan landed in a crouch on the ground, and the Cells charged.

They came at him from all sides. He swung his fists, battling them without missing a beat, kicking at any that struck too low for his arms to reach. He displayed his martial arts prowess expertly, leaping, ducking, sliding, and punching at every oppurtunity. The Cells were barely able to touch him. Creating a long pole out of ki, Gohan batted them away like flies as they attacked. He struck the pole into the ground, turned his body sideways, and kicked his enemies in a circle as though he were running on them. But still they would not give up.

A Cell Jr. came at him from the air, having been thrown by his colleagues. Gohan had just knocked away a swarm of Cells when the rogue one was upon him. He pulled it off him easily, but in that time a dozen more clones had piled on top of him. Soon there was a huge mound of Cells on top of Gohan, overwhelming him.

Gohan gave a mighty heave, releasing a burst of ki. The Cell clones were all thrown from him at once in a silent explosion. Gohan was amazed to see them get right back up. What were they made of?

He wouldn't be able to finish this right now. Knocking away a few more Cell Jrs, he flew upward. He gave them one last look, and flew away, leaving them standing there looking at him.


	3. The Cell Gametrix Revolutions

**THE CELL GAMETRIX REVOLUTIONS**

Gohan landed on the rock with the other Z Fighters, and saw that the machine #18 was awake. She had watched his battle with Cell and his many clones, and had a proposition to make.

"Gohan," she said to him. "I'm sure you know by now that Cell is infecting the Cell Game, posing a serious threat to both the machines and the humans. This is not a good situation for either of us. I've been told that you are the only one who can permanently defeat Cell." 

Gohan was wary. "But the machines have been trying to destroy the Z Fighters. You don't want us telling more humans the truth, and you're making us pay. Why should I do this if it only works to your advantage?"

#18 sighed heavily. "The machines will leave your faction alone, and call a truce. If you destroy Cell."

Gohan looked out over the cliff. Cell and his clones were slowly destroying everything in sight. There was no other alternative. He turned back to the machine as the sky began to thunder.

"We have a deal."

A flash of lightning punctuated the darkness. As Gohan landed softly on the ground, the sky opened up and began to pour. The Cell Jrs stood in two rows on either side of Gohan. He began to walk down the path they had made for him; each one followed him with their eyes as he passed. At the end of the line stood the original Cell, glaring at him.

"Mr. Son," he said. "I overheard your little chat with the machine. Excellent hearing, you know." He indicated his head. "You realize that only one of us will come out alive this time." 

Gohan smiled, crouched, and beckoned to Cell with one hand. Cell snarled and lunged. Gohan was amazed at how much faster he had become. They grappled furiously. They were deadlocked. Finally Gohan kicked Cell in the stomach, breaking them apart, and leaped into the air.

Cell smirked. "I forgot to mention," he said. "When you invaded my body, I may have picked up a few of your tricks." He flew upward as well, meeting Gohan in midair. The Cell Jrs watched from the ground. They exchanged blows, ending the skirmish with Cell kicking Gohan into a tall rock. He followed Gohan, stopping on the rock. He punched; Gohan blocked with his arm, then punched Cell in the gut. He backflipped over Cell, then kicked his back, sending him sailing back into the air. Gohan shot at Cell as the latter whipped around. They clashed, shattering the environment around them.

Cell raised his arm in rage and slammed Gohan to the ground, creating a huge crater. Gohan rasied his head and looked around him: the Cell Jrs were closing in, standing around the edge of the crater, some standing inside it. Gohan felt a dull pain in his arm; it was broken. Cell landed beside him.

"You fought valiantly, Mr. Son," he said, yanking Gohan to his feet. "But it all ends here." He cupped his hands at his sides. "Ka, Me, Ha, Me..." Gohan saw what his foe was doing. Frantically, he leaped backward and imitated Cell with his free hand. Two enormous balls of energy formed in their hands. They looked at each other, reaching a silent understanding that this was the final action. They thrust their arms forward. "HAAAAAAAAAA!" 

The beams collided with unimaginable force. The energy pulse grew so extreme that many of the Cell Jrs were vaporized instantly. The two adversaries struggled with all their might. Gohan tried as hard as he could, but with one arm, his beam was being driven uncontrollably backward. Sweat poured down his face as he struggled vainly. He had lost.

He recalled Goku's words, echoing in his mind. Can you do this, Gohan? Can you become The One? Gohan's eyes narrowed, and his face showed new determination. He could do this. He had done this. He was The One. He was The One!

Letting out a scream of pure rage and agony, Gohan threw all his energy into a final burst. Cell, caught off guard, yelled as the beam flew back toward him. It began to overtake him; he called to his clones to help him, but the remaining Cell Jrs were standing behind him, dumbstruck. They too were destroyed by the tremendous beam as it made its way past Cell.

There was a blinding flash of light, and when it cleared up, Cell and his clones were obliterated. Gohan was lying on the ground, his arms spread straight out on either side of him. He had hit the ground with such force that a cross-shaped crater surrounded him. The Z Fighters and the machine #18 rushed over to him.

"Is he...dead?" asked Piccolo.

"He made the ultimate sacrifice," said #18. "Cell has been destroyed, and we machines will no longer harm you humans. The world is at peace. Gohan died for the sins of all of us."

Gohan's eyelids opened slowly. "I...I'm not..." he began, but his body was covered by Piccolo's cloak as #18 bore him into the sky. 

Dende and the Eternal Dragon stood together on Kami's Lookout, watching the sunny sky. There was a rainbow lighting it up, to signify peace. 

"AW, DENDE," said the Eternal Dragon, looking at the rainbow. "DID YOU MAKE THAT?"

"Yes!" squealed Dende enthusiastically. "For Gohan."

The two looked at out at the world, smiling. They thought about Gohan and his death, as a frantic scraping sound came from inside the nearby memorial and grave of The One. Yes, peace had returned to the world, but for how long? Only time would tell.

THE END


End file.
